Here is the official statement from publisher Jeff Price and editor Garry Howard.

After 126 years of printing ink on paper with weekly, biweekly or monthly frequency, Sporting News will officially become a digital brand as of January 1, 2013. Based on interest expressed by a number of longtime readers, Sporting News will continue to print six highly popular, sport-specific yearbook previews in 2013â€”Baseball, NFL, College Football and College Basketball plus Fantasy Football and Fantasy Baseballâ€”that will be available at newsstands across the country.

Having spoken with many of our longtime subscribers, we recognize this is not a popular decision among our most loyal fans. Unfortunately, neither our subscriber base nor the current advertising market for print would allow us to operate a profitable print business going forward.

Howard added:

â€œSporting News is very much alive in the digital sports world, publishing a free daily sports App that is dynamic in nature and one of the leaders in its category on the iPad, in addition to our 24/7 web site, sportingnews.com.

â€œYes, itâ€™s a new day for Sporting News, but one that is looking toward the future and one that will help our brand reach more avid readers than ever before in its storied history.â€